Former Cats shine during NBA All-Star Weekend

Four former Kentucky Wildcats put their skills on display during the 2015 NBA All-Star festivities in New York City over the weekend.

Milwaukee Buck Brandon Knight was a late addition to the All-Star Skills Challenge on Saturday night after Washington’s John Wall decided to skip the event to instead rest before Sunday’s All-Star Game.

Knight did not disappoint and defeated defending champion Trey Burke (Jazz) in the first round and Kyle Lowry (Raptors) in the semifinals before falling to Patrick Beverley (Rockets) in the final.

Wall did play in the the Degree Battle of the Game Changers competition, though. It was essentially a glorified game of H-O-R-S-E against Stephen Curry of the Golden State Warriors, and Wall left victorious after crossing over some random guy for a three-pointer on the final shot.

He got a nice trophy out of it, too — for whatever that’s worth.

76ers rookie Nerlens Noel was selected to play in the BBVA Compass Rising Stars Challenge, but his performance might be most remember by his failed dunk attempt against Utah Jazz center Rudy Gobert.

I guess Gobert didn’t get the memo about not playing defense during All-Star Weekend.

Wall, Demarcus Cousins, and Anthony Davis were all selected for the main event on Sunday. Wall and Davis were both voted in as starters by fans, but Davis watched from the bench in street clothes while nursing a sprained shoulder.

The East defeated the West 163-158 in the highest-scoring All-Star ever. #Wallstar tallied up 19 points and 7 assists in 29 minutes of play for the East with DMC pitching in 14 points on 6-7 shooting in 18 minutes for the West.

The second half of the season has plenty of storylines in store for each of the four UK All-Stars.

Wall and Knight are both jostling for playoff position in the the East with the Wizards and Bucks, and Davis’ Pelicans are just 1.5 games out of the 8th and final spot out West.

After a quick start, the Sacramento Kings have floundered back down to its traditional home at the bottom of the Western Conference, and the 76ers is once again setting its sights on the lottery, but Cousins and Noel are playing up to their All-Star selections despite the poor win-loss records or their respective teams.

DMC is averaging career highs in points (23.8), rebounds (12.5), assists (3.3), and blocks (1.7) while Nerlens has played himself into the Rookie of the Year discussion by leading all rookies in rebounds (7.2), blocks (1.7), and steals (1.6) per game.